Reid rejects Obama's trade push

President Barack Obama’s push for the two largest free trade deals in U.S. history has hit a major roadblock: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Nevada Democrat said he opposes a bill that would fast-track the Pacific Rim and European Union pacts through Congress with limited debate and no amendments – which the White House says is crucial to gaining concessions from other countries to finalize those deals.

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Reid made it abundantly clear that he has voiced his concerns to Obama’s administration, as well as the outgoing chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and his replacement, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who would take the lead on the issue once Baucus departs to become U.S. ambassador to China.

“Everyone knows how I feel about this,” Reid said just off the Senate floor. “Sen. Baucus knows. Sen. Wyden knows. The White House knows. Everyone would be well-advised to not push this right now.”

A White House official said Reid’s opposition to the trade bill didn’t come as a surprise.

“Leader Reid has always been clear on his position on this particular issue,” the official said. “As the president said last night, he will continue to work to enact bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers and environment and open markets to new goods stamped ‘Made in the USA,’ and we will not cede this important opportunity for American workers and businesses to our competitors.”

The majority leader’s position essentially kills the president’s trade push this Congress, given that Reid controls the floor schedule and leads a caucus filled with members worried that such deals would harm labor and environmental protections and siphon away U.S. jobs.

But it’s certain to anger Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), both of whom have blasted Obama for doing too little to rally Democratic backing for the bill.

It also marks yet another item off the already-short list of issues on which Congress could act this year – even though, in this case, Obama and House Republicans agreed.

The president gave it a mention – albeit briefly – in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

“We need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment, and open new markets to new goods stamped, ‘Made in the USA,’” Obama said in his speech. “Look, China and Europe aren’t on standing on the sidelines. Neither should we.”

Reid’s comments come amid mounting Democratic opposition to the bill. On Monday, 550 labor, environmental and consumer advocacy groups – including the United Autoworkers, which has lent Obama critical backing on previous free trade pacts such as the South Korea deal – sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject the fast-track bill.

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, said the president’s push for a fast-track bill is out of sync with the party’s election-year priorities.

“How can you say on one hand you want to address income inequality, you want to make this economy work for everyone, and on the other hand, say you want trade promotion authority so you can pass these NAFTA-style trade deals?” Ellison asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Republicans, too, said they were frustrated with Obama on the issue – but their beef was that he didn’t spend more time pushing it during the State of the Union.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who introduced the legislation the bill along with Baucus and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), blasted Obama at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday.

“So far I’ve been underwhelmed by the administration’s support of our bill and extremely disappointed with the efforts they’ve made to get Democrats in Congress on board,” he said.

The fast-track bill has become increasingly important as U.S. negotiators finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal with Japan and 10 other Asia-Pacific countries that covers agricultural goods, intellectual property protections for medicines and technology, and more.

Obama’s administration initially aimed to seal that deal by the end of 2013. Once that target was missed, Froman said he hopes to finish it early this year.

An even bigger deal is on its heels. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which is intended to reduce regulatory differences in automotive safety, chemical and pharmaceutical inspections and more between the United States and the European Union, could be wrapped up early next year.

The U.S. business community has lobbied hard for the legislation. Told of Reid’s comments, John Murphy, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for international affairs, said the effort to open new markets “starts” with the fast-track trade promotion authority bill.

“Refusing to move forward with TPA only guarantees that foreign barriers against American goods stay in place,” Murphy said.

A blocked Senate leaves the Obama administration with two options: wait until after November’s election and try its luck with a new Congress or push for passage of the Pacific Rim deal – which is likely to contain a host of contentious provisions – while insisting that lawmakers not change a word.

First, though, that deal must be completed. Trade experts say that will be next to impossible without the fast-track bill in place because other countries won’t take political risks of their own in agreeing to a deal unless the United States does so, too.

A spokeswoman for Froman, the United States’ top trade negotiator, did not respond to a request for comment.